1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a vehicular lamp assembly with a simplified structure. In one of its aspects, the invention relates to a vehicular lamp assembly and a center high-mount stop lamp incorporating the same. In another of its aspects, the invention relates to a vehicular lamp body incorporating the reflective surface applied to a rear portion thereof. In another of its aspects, the invention relates to a lamp body having a reflective surface that forms a part of an electrical circuit for powering a plurality of lamps installed thereon. In another of its aspects, the invention relates to a lamp body having a reflective surface adjacent to rear surface thereof in combination with optical elements adjacent to the front surface thereof. In another of its aspects, the invention relates to a lamp body incorporating optical elements on a rear surface and a front surface thereof, in combination with lens elements to form indicator lamps.
2. Description of the Related Art
Prior art lamp assemblies come in many forms for use in vehicles, such as the combination brake/indicator lights 10 or center high-mount stop lamp (CHMSL) 20 illustrated on the vehicle 5 in FIG. 1. Referring to FIG. 2, a known form of lamp includes a hollow lamp housing 10 having one or a number of cavities 12 therein, often parabolic in nature and having a reflective coating applied thereon, and having an aperture 14 at a rear portion thereof for inserting a lamp or lamps 16. The front portion of each of these cavities 12 is covered by translucent lens 18 of a selected color corresponding to the indicator lamp enclosed thereby (i.e., red for braking, amber for turning, white for reverse). Each of the lamps 16 inserted into an aperture 14 in the lamp housing 10 is electrically connected to the electrical system of the vehicle 5, often by a Medusa-like wire harness 17. Other embodiments include the use of printed circuit boards having a number of light-emitting diodes (LED) secured thereto, the printed circuit board then being enclosed in a housing having a translucent lens thereon.
Presently, center high-mount stop lamps using light-emitting diodes are comprised of a number of individual assembled components: housings, lenses, gaskets, printed circuit boards, fresnel lenses, wire harnesses, connectors and grommets. Light-emitting diodes as used in the center high-mount stop lamps and other tail lamps have the further disadvantage of presenting a “hotspot” centered over the light-emitting diode due to the directional nature of the diode, as compared to the substantially omnidirectional nature of a conventional incandescent lamp.
It would be advantageous to reduce the number of components necessary to construct a lamp assembly, and to overcome the other disadvantages of the light-emitting diode design such as the “hot spot” centered on the LED.